25 Oct 111. How Writing a Book Fits into Your Empire

Writing a book can feel like a colossal task.

You might even get to the point that you start to forget where it fits into your larger purpose.

Finally writing your book is still the *best* way to position yourself as the expert in your industry.

And in this episode, you’ll discover how to take a holistic look at your message, your business, and your purpose in order to see where your book fits into it all.

If you’re looking for confirmation that writing your book is worth your time and effort, this episode is that confirmation.

For more writing tips and inspiration, follow me on Instagram @candiceldavis.

Mentioned in This Episode

Authors Ignited: Group Coaching Program for Nonfiction Authors

Jump-Start: A free guide to help you jump-start your nonfiction book.

Complete Author Coaching (1:1 Coaching)

The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions co-written by Shereem Herndon-Brown and Timothy L. Fields

Episode Transcript

Hey there, and welcome to Nothing but the Words. I’m your Book Coach Candice L. Davis.

I hope your week and your writing are both going really, really well. 

Last week, I had a really interesting experience on the tail end of what could have been a day gone awry. 

So I started off the day by scheduling an appointment at the wrong branch of a store and so I had to drive past one branch and go to the other branch. 

And then I came back to have lunch with my girlfriend and I was 20 minutes early and so comfortable and excited that I wasn’t running behind. 

I’m rarely running behind—I’m pretty early or on time—but then I spent about 20 minutes circling the parking lot trying to find a space. 

It’s Friday, I should have known it would be a very busy time at the local restaurant. 

But I didn’t anticipate it so I started getting a little frustrated. 

And when I walked into the restaurant, my friend was already there. 

And the hostess was telling her that she did not have us down for a one o’clock reservation in a very busy restaurant. 

However, she did find us a 1:15. So no big deal. 

I was happy to see my friend, I hadn’t seen her in a long time. 

So we went outside to wait for our table and to catch up. 

We were pretty engrossed in our conversation about business and about life in general—health, wellbeing, all the things you talk about when you haven’t seen each other in a while, when a gentleman came up and interrupted our conversation. 

I don’t generally go around making conversation with strangers. 

If you talk to me, I will talk to you but I am rarely going to strike up a conversation with someone. 

But he was perfectly polite and after a moment of me wondering, “what is he selling? What does he want?”

He pointed to his phone and said, “is this you?”

And on his phone he had this podcast, Nothing but the Words, and the picture of me. 

So I said, “Well, yeah, that is me.”

At this point I’m totally shocked this is not something that happens on a regular basis. 

So it was interesting, but it got even more so when he handed me a copy of his book and said, “This book exists because of your podcast.”

Cue the waterworks friends. 

I didn’t cry because I was really too shocked. 

But my girlfriend was crying while she was taking pictures. 

So the gentleman’s name was Shereem Herndon-Brown, and he is the co-author along with Timothy L. Fields of The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions. 

And they were so kind. They both autographed the book to me, and I was thrilled to see that—I will have a picture of it on my instagram @candiceldavis. 

If you want to see the really beautiful book that they published. 

Everything about the design of this book is perfectly appropriate to the audience into the message of the book, The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions. 

So we talked for a while and he shared that he had been inspired by this podcast to write his book, which was thrilling for me and it was thrilling to meet his co-author as well. 

They were on a book tour. And they had come to Atlanta—well one lives in Atlanta, the other lives out of state—they had come to Atlanta to extend their book tour here in the southeast. 

And they were here for Morehouse College’s homecoming because Timothy attended Morehouse and they were using that platform to promote their book. 

And they shared that they have also started a podcast around the same topic. 

Shereem has a business around the same topic and Timothy’s career is in admissions with a local university here. 

So it was really interesting to me, I was really, really thrilled to find out that the podcast was really making a difference for someone because you never know, right? 

You’re getting downloads, you’re getting reviews, but is anyone actually getting out of it what you want them to get out of it. 

And it was really exciting for me to find out that they were. 

I was really just riding on a high rest of lunch and just thanking God and just being so grateful that connection had been made because if our table had been ready a bit earlier or if we had made a one o’clock reservation as we had planned to, we probably would never have crossed paths with them because they too, were sitting outside waiting for a table. 

So they were kind enough to give me a copy of their book, they were kind enough to autograph it for me, and when I left there, I was thinking about what a remarkable job they have done in making this book a part of their empire. 

And that’s really what I want to talk to you about today. 

So I’m currently writing a book that will teach many of the concepts that I talk about on the podcast here and also explore some additional, related concepts. 

So that will all be a part of my platform, right, I’ll have the podcast, and I’ll have the book, and I’ll continue to speak on stages, and go on other people’s podcasts, and all that good stuff. 

And yes, I’ll continue to write articles and all of that. 

So this is the message that I’m called to share. 

I’m called to help people write the books they feel called to write, but also to make those books the very best they can possibly be. 

If you have a story to tell, that can serve someone else in some way. 

And I don’t care what way that is. 

Entertainment is not an irrelevant way to share your story. 

If it’s just for entertainment purposes, it still has meaning. 

So if you have a story to tell that can serve someone, if you have a system or a process that can help someone else achieve their goals, if like Shereem and Timothy you have information that can help people really change their lives and the legacy for their family, the best thing you can do is to get it out there on multiple platforms and through multiple vehicles. 

Writing a book is still—I don’t care what anybody says, the statistics bear it out—the best way to brand yourself as the authority in a niche, or the expert on a topic. 

People still respect the writing of a great book so much because it takes so much effort and you tend to go more in depth in the writing of a book than you would in something like producing a podcast. 

But each vehicle you use supports the others. 

So whether you start your own podcast or appear on other people’s podcasts, that exposure will help your book sales. 

And having a book that encapsulates your story, your philosophies, your framework, so your positions puts you in a place to pitch yourself to appear on those podcasts, and other media outlets and on the bigger stages. 

This is the world we live in. 

Everyone has their own preferences for how they consume information and entertainment. 

And if you really want to send your message home, if you want to drive your message home with so much competing noise, you’ve got to send it out on multiple platforms. 

Now this is not a call for everyone in the world to write a book.

I don’t think everybody should write a book. 

But if you feel a desire to write a book, you feel called to become an author, then know that this can be an integral part of your mini empire. 

I would argue, I can easily make the argument, that several of my clients have used their books as the foundation of their business. 

With the book they landed paid speaking engagements. 

Prior to becoming an author, they might have been speaking for free. 

With the book they landed media appearances they otherwise would never have gotten. 

My clients have appeared on shows like The Today Show, Good Morning America, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, various and sundry large media outlets and smaller media outlets that have all helped them to expand and grow their business to reach more people and to get their message out there. 

With those appearances and engagements they fill their courses, their coaching programs, their group programs, and each element continues to feed into the others and build on each other. 

Even career authors who primarily make their living writing books are finding they need some of these elements to maximize their reach. 

Even if they don’t have a program they’re selling. 

Even if they’re not coaching anyone, if they want to sell more books, they’ve got to do some of these other things. 

If you haven’t already, start to look at your enterprise holistically. 

Your book is one part of it. 

And it can be a really central and important part of the mini empire you are building. 

So invest the time and effort it takes to write a book worthy of representing you and all that you stand for, all that you know, and all that you do. 

Shereem and Timothy did it. Many of my clients are doing it, and you can do it too. 

That’s all for this week’s episode. Thank you so much for listening to Nothing but the Words. I’m your book coach Candice L.  Davis, and I’ll see you next time.

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